We are currently in Exorcist central, out here on the west coast of BC.
The fog rolled in last Friday, and since then we’ve been completely socked in, up to our eyeballs in mysterious mist.
Every so often we are tantalized with a small sliver of blue sky, but before we have a chance to relish in its splendor, the fog rolls back in, engulfing us all.
Tonight M and I are wrapped in our comfiest clothes, sitting close the fire. He is doing work and I am reading one of the most brilliant, beautiful, and hilarious poignant pieces of YA I have ever read.
Please, please check out: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
You will not regret it.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in gloom:
Dinner parties.
Nerd nights.
Roses.
Winter walks.
Cat.
What did each one of you get up to for the weekend?
I want to hear all about it, as I wait for this fog to lift.
T’is the last week before the lovely Mr. M and I begin our Christmas hols in earnest. I am so very ready to hang up my hat and to celebrate the end of 2012 in style.
My husband has been sleeping on average three hours a night, and working eighteen hours a day, so I can only imagine how ready he is for a vacation.
I am also trying to figure out how much I can possibly stuff in my carry-on suitcase, because the last thing that I want to do when flying clear across this massive country is check my luggage, as there are just too many ways for it to be lost betwixt here and YHZ.
Canada is great for many things (ex. maple syrup, universal healthcare, Rick Mercer), however there are times when I think living someplace – Switzerland, say – would be so much easier, particularly whilst making travel plans.
See also: cheese and chocolate selection, tennis players, and bank accounts.
This weekend was a mixed bag of Bollywood comedies, cookie making madness, freezing runs, brief snowfalls, open mics, and new episodes of The Hour on Netflix.
Seriously dudes, if you’re not watching this show START NOW.
It’s some of the best television I’ve seen in quite some time.
In the interim, here are some snaps from life here in the madhouse:
Cookie monsters.
Getting ready to rumble.At first I was all –And then I was all –The aftermath.Pretty much all of these have been eaten.
Early morning beauty.
Fog.Sun.
Bookshelf love.
This is what happiness reads like.
Fire cat.
Wrapping is hard work.
Tonight we are off to deck the halls (with boughs of holly) at M’s parents house, and trim their tree with happiness and care.
(Although when I asked him what he was most excited to put on the tree, the madman just kept repeating “turkey.” We shall see how well that turns out. Also, re-read the sentence about him being massively sleep deprived.)
I am so excited to be writing today’s post it’s a little silly.
So let’s just get right to it shall we?
Fry-up time!
Minty fresh.
On Tuesday I made mint pea soup and parmesan toast:
Out here on the west coast, it has been raining like a raining thing and I find that once our days reach a certain level of murk, all I want to do is make (and eat) hot, healthy foods and curl up in front of the fire.
Hence the need to whip up a fresh batch of this glorious green concoction.
Now, whenever I eat/make pea soup, I always think about that scene at the beginning of The Rescuers Down Under (we’re talking high art here folks), where Bernard takes Bianca out for a really fancy dinner (with the express intention of proposing to her).
Side note: I will always stand by my opinion that The Rescuers – the original movie – was always the better movie of the two.
Anyway, the mice and all the other animals are actually dining in the chandelier of an incredibly well-to-do (human) restaurant. A pea falls off the plate of one of the human dishes, only to be promptly scooped up by one of the animal waiters (a very posh-looking grasshopper), who then slingshots it up to the animal kitchen.
There, a chef – also a grasshopper – takes the pea and turns it into soup.
Now, what made this short, but memorable scene so brilliant (to six year old me) is the way both of these characters exclaim “pea soup!” with such enthusiasm and hilarity.
And as a child I could never, ever, get enough of their enunciation and tone.
And to this day, it still cracks me up.
So of course, every time I sit down to a bowl I absolutely have to say “pea soup!” just like a posh grasshopper waiter-or-chef.
Seriously, check it out for yourself:
And believe me, once you start, you won’t stop.
Onwards!
Taking a stand.
So.
I promised to post it as soon as I had the chance, and well, here it is!
My stand-up routine.
Meep.
Full disclaimer – this video contains some not-so-safe for work language. I make a concerted effort to communicate in this here blog without any swears, but I must confess that when I get on stage they are much harder to contain.
I do so hope that you enjoy it.
p.s. My name is Vanessa Woznow. Erm…hi?
A good word.
One of my most-loved things to do in preparation for the holidays is purchase beautiful little cards and send them to all my family and friends.
This year I chose gorgeous doves! And penguins sledding down a hill!
(This photo is also excellent evidence that I cannot keep myself away from sparkle – even in card form.)
Last night I prepared all of my cards for my rad work mates and for my family’s cousin Christmas card swap – a tradition born out of my grandfather’s passing five years ago.
He used to send us each a personalized card every December 25th, and we want to keep the memory alive by making sure we stay in touch over the holiday season.
What makes it even more special is that this year I will get to see so many of them in person.
And goodness knows I CANNOT WAIT.
(Double eep!)
…
So there you have it beauty cats.
Soup, comedy, and cards – the trifecta dominating my thoughts on these dark and dreary, and oh-so late autumn evenings.
I hope all of your weekends are filled with love, laughter, and light.
Because goodness knows, Nymeria and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My lovely man snapped this bonkers photo of me late Saturday night (actually now that I think about it, it was more like early Sunday morning) after returning home from two shindigs with our lovely friends.
I shouted down from upstairs that I needed him to take a photo of my skirt and as I raced downstairs this is what happened:
I kind of love it.
Almost as much as I love this skirt.
Either way, ho hum, pigs bum.
And elsewhere in the cosmic kitchen –
Kitten love.
Fondue festivities.
All the noms were enjoyed in this photo. Oh yes.
Also, in cool news on the comedy front, I was invited to perform at an open mic in Surrey on Sunday night (and I did it! HUZZAH!)
This turned out to be excellent fun times. I brought a rad posse of bad-ass friends to keep me company, as I was a little nervous about being the only girl comic there – as I imagine this position to be one with some inherent loneliness.
I can only imagine how nuts it would have been had I showed up and just proceeded to read some Brothers Karamazov while waiting to do my set.
Actually, I kind of want to do that next time just to see the reaction.
Good grief.
I am also going to be performing at a Pro-Am show on December 20th.
Meep.
So things are happening! Funny things are happening!
In the meantime, I am actually dead alive on my feet after a weekend of madcappery and brilliance.
On Friday night I met up with a fab friend for a post-work drink, and goodness gracious was that ever a laugh and a half.
Seriously dudes, when I say that all the laughs were belong to us, THIS IS NO JOKE.
We also might be clinically insane.
As I rode skytrain home I kept trying to read my book but couldn’t because I just kept giggling like a bloody loon. People were looking at me like I was absolutely mad.
(Not a heck of a lot different from my everyday experience, but hey, at least I’m always enjoying myself, right?)
When I got home M had prepared for us an amazing fondue feast and we gorged ourselves on gruyere before retiring to our newly transformed Christmas den (aka living room) to watch Love Actually and drink scotch (him) and tea (me.)
Don’t think I’ll ever be able to do the scotch thing, but it seems as though Mr. M is turning into el suavo extraordinaire.
Such a total, total, stud.
The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of parties, runs, cleaning sprees, gift shopping, and catch-up brunches (are there any other kind?)
Cat.
Rant and Roll 